Reza Madadi
Khamzat Chimaev’s teammate Reza Madadi has responded to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s critique of the Chechen of not surrounding himself with good Muslims
Khamzat Chimaev’s weight miss at UFC 279 forced the UFC to revamp the card. Chimaev faced Kevin Holland in the co-main event, after his main event spot was offered to MMA veteran Tony Ferguson against Nate Diaz. Chimaev, who missed weight by whopping 7.5 pounds looked rather unapologetic on the scale, during weigh-ins, and during post-fight media interviews. This drew the flak of the MMA community, most noticeably by former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov, a staunch follower of Islam, suggested that Chimaev should surround himself with good solid followers of the religion, who would guide him in the right path. Fans cited a subtle dig at ‘Borz’s new kindled bromance with UFC middleweight Darren Till that drew these observations from ‘The Eagle’.
“If you are a Muslim, you should have good people around you, “Khabib said during a fundraiser.
“Muslims who can say ‘Hey, don’t do this.’ I recently watched the weigh-in of Khamzat Chimaev. I followed what was happening with his weight and looked at his team. There are no Muslims around him and this is very bad. Because if you are a Muslim, you need good, strong people around you that will say ‘Come back, do this.'”
“You need good people, even if you don’t like it, you need them.”
Allegations were also made that Chimaev intentionally stop cutting weight and was also spotted having a hearty meal a night before the weigh-ins. However, Nurmagomedov’s comments have been met with polarizing reactions.
Head coach Andreas Michael and Darren Till have hit back at the Dagestani and slammed him for his comments.
Darren Till was amongst the first to hit back at Khabib Nurmagomedov. He pointed out that the former UFC lightweight had missed weight in his time as a fighter.
“Khabib’s missed weight, like five times, man. Like he’s got good people around him. We are not coming out saying [the same thing].”
“Just because me and Khamzat have a bit of fun on camera… does that mean that I’m not good people or his coaches aren’t good peoples? Like his Brazilian coach is one of the best grapplers of all time, he’s not Muslim. Does that mean he’s bad peoples?”
Chimaev’s teammate Reza Madadi shared a beautiful message on Instagram, while also being respectful to Khabib:
“Dear @khabib_nurmagomedov , my muslim brother ❤️🙏🏼Firstly I would like say I have a huge respect for you as an athlete and for all your achievements in our beloved sport of MMA. I am also very proud of how you represent our religion, belief and God in all your interviews and appearances.
But, I would like to give my point on your opinion on @khamzat_chimaev not having a muslim team around him and that was supposed to be the reason of him missing the weight. I have to disagree with you on this part.
Not only have Khamzat had muslim friends and teammates such as me around him from day 1, but also from many other religions and backgrounds, The have been people that have been with him from the start, giving him love, sharing blood, sweat and joy and done everything to bring him to where he is now.
Being a muslim doesn’t mean we are perfect and flawless, trust me, I have done many mistakes in my life as many people know,
With all due respect, so have you.
So mentioning having muslim team will make you perfect, I have to disagree, having a team that cares about you. in good times and bad times, no matter what belief or religion they have is far more important. And that is something Khamzat has.
There are several issues that made Khamzat miss the weight but those reasons stay in the team. But he is still young and he will learn from his mistakes.
If a big Champion like you, did learn from your mistake when you missed weight, I have no doubt that our brother Khamzat will do as well.”
What do you guys make of the whole analogy put-forth by Nurmagomedov and Chimaev’s team’s reaction?
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